History 506: Modern South Asia

Spring 2008, EH 224, 10:30 MWF

Professor David Stone Office: EH 318

email: stone@ksu.edu phone: 532-2978

Read this syllabus carefully. Most of your questions about the class are answered here. If you don't find your answer here, please feel free to ask for clarification.

OBJECTIVES: This course will cover the history of South Asia over the last 500 years. That will cover mostly India, but also include Pakistan and Bangladesh while touching on Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. It is NOT a course on South-East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia). I have structured the course and the assignments so that you will:

1) learn the historical content of this period by becoming familiar with the most important people, ideas, and events of South Asian history.

2) gain some historical perspective by wrestling with South Asian thinking about politics, development, society, and religion.

3) understand the most important trends and forces shaping South Asian civilization.

4) gain experience in expressing historical judgments in written and verbal form.

GRADE BREAKDOWN: First paper 20 points

Second paper 20 points

Third paper 20 points

Midterm exam 20 points

Final exam 30 points

Five reading quizzes 20 points

Participation 20 points

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Total 150 points possible

REQUIREMENTS:

1) READING. I expect you to keep up with the reading. Pop quizzes on discussion days will check on the reading.

2) ATTENDANCE. We are all adults, and I will not take attendance. Coming to class is, however, important to doing well, and I do notice patterns of attendance. Missing class will hurt your understanding of the course material, and drain my otherwise deep reservoir of sympathy.

3) PARTICIPATION. This class has both lectures and discussions. Even during lectures, I welcome your questions, comments, and contributions. Discussion days, most Fridays, depend on your participation, and you will be graded on your participation and preparation. If you have trouble talking in class, see me. You will still need to participate.

4) WRITING. You will write three papers during the semester, each of about 1250 words in length. Due dates are listed on the syllabus; detailed topics will be distributed in class. I expect papers to be handed in on time, and late papers will be marked down 10% for each day they are late.

5) EXAMS. We will have a midterm and a final, consisting of paragraph-length identifications of important individuals, concepts, and events, along with essay questions over the lectures and readings. The identifications on the exams will be drawn solely from terms distributed before class. The final will cover only material after the midterm. You will need to bring to the exams your own blue books (blue-covered booklets on sale in the bookstore for writing exam answers).

6) QUIZZES. There will be five in-class pop quizzes on discussion days. The purpose of the quizzes is to check on how well you have done the reading. These quizzes will be OPEN NOTE but NOT OPEN BOOK, so you should take reading notes as you go.

7) TEXTS TO PURCHASE. There is only one required text for this class (available at Varney's and the Union bookstore):

Wolpert, A New History of India (7th edition)

There is, however, also two large and required packets of supplementary readings that you should purchase IMMEDIATELY from the copy center in the basement of Eisenhower Hall

8) EMAIL ACCOUNT. I will regularly communicate with you via email.

CLASS SCHEDULE.

NOTE: the reading listed with each particular day is to be read by the start of class THAT DAY.

Friday, January 18. Intro to course. The Physical Setting. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 1, pp. 3-12.

Monday, January 21. NO CLASS. UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY.

Wednesday, January 23. Hinduism. Reading: Tharoor, pp. 50-66; Kanipe, pp. 1-11, 145-151 (packet).

Friday, January 25. Discussion: Caste. Reading: Tharoor, pp. 79-111; "Caste marks survive India's Killer Quake" (packet).

Monday, January 28. The arrival of Islam. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 8, pp. 105-125.

Wednesday, January 30. The Moghuls and Akbar the Great. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 9, pp. 126-134. GEOGRAPHY QUIZ.

Friday, February 1. The Height of the Moghul Empire. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 11, pp. 148-168.

Monday, February 4. The European arrival. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 10, pp. 135-147.

Wednesday, February 6. The Company as Economic Power.

Friday, February 8. Discussion: Resistance to the Moghuls. Reading: John Richards, The Mughal Empire, Chap. 10; Hew McLeod, Sikhism, intro and chaps 1-3 (packet).

Monday, February 11. The Company Seizes Political Power. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 12, pp. 169-186.

Wednesday, February 13. Company Reform. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 13, pp. 187-200.

Friday, February 15. Discussion: Indian Society and the British takeover. Reading: Bayly, Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire, pp. 45-55, 68-76; James, Raj, pp. 151-186 (packet).

Monday, February 18. India under Company Rule, pt. I. Reading: Chap. 14, pp. 200-223.

Wednesday, February 20. India under Company Rule, pt. II.

Friday, February 22. Discussion: Women and Rammohun Roy. Reading, English Works of Raja Ram Mohun Roy, pp. 295-370 (packet).

Monday, February 25. The Mutiny. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 15, pp. 224-236.

FIRST PAPER DUE ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, ON RAMMOHUN ROY.

Wednesday, February 27. Crown Rule. Reading: Wolpert, pp. 237-246.

Friday, February 29. MIDTERM EXAM.

Monday, March 3. Growth of Indian Nationalism. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 17, pp. 247-261

Wednesday, March 5. Height of the Raj. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 18, pp. 262-272; The British in India, pp. 1-26 (packet).

Friday, March 7. Discussion: Indian Nationalists. Reading: The Select Gokhale, pp. 175-184, 194-205, 237-246; Tilak: Speeches and Writings, pp. 42-47, 55-67 (packet).

Monday, March 10. Islam under the Raj. Reading; Wolpert, Chap. 19, pp. 273-285.

Wednesday, March 12. Economy and Society. Reading: The British in India, pp. 26-63.

Friday, March 14. discussion: Islam and communalism. Reading: Syed Ahmed Khan, pp. 180-195; India's Struggle for Freedom, pp. 200-211; Mawlana Muhammed Ali, pp. 112-119; Muhammed Ali Jinnah, pp. 152-155 (packet); British in India, pp. 77-86 (packet).

SPRING BREAK

Monday, March 24. World War I and Gandhi. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 20, pp. 286-300.

Wednesday, March 26. Quit India, pt. 1. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 21, pp. 301-329.

Friday, March 28. Discussion: Gandhi's Thought. Reading: Gandhi, Essential Writings, pp. 1-32, 136-152, 411-419 (packet).

Monday, March 31. Quit India, pt. II. Reading: British in India, pp. 64-76 (packet).

Wednesday, April 2. World War II. Reading: Wolpert, 1st part of Chap. 22, pp. 330-340.

Friday, April 4. Discussion: subaltern studies. Reading: Shahid Amin, "Gandhi as Mahatma." (packet)

Monday, April 7. Independence and Partition. Reading: Wolpert, 2nd part of Chap. 22, pp. 340-353; British in India, pp. 87-111 (packet).

Wednesday, April 9. Nehru's India. Reading: Wolpert, Chap. 23, pp. 354-373. SECOND PAPER DUE TODAY, WEDNESDAY, on British rule.

Friday, April 11. Discussion: The Human Side of Partition. Reading: Butalia, The Other Side of Silence, pp. 3-20, 55-77, 87-194 (packet).

Monday, April 14. Non-alignment and war.

Wednesday, April 16. Indira Gandhi. Reading: Wolpert, pp. 374-419.

Friday, April 18. Discussion: Problems of Development. Reading: Sen and Dreze, India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity, chaps. 1-2, 6-7 (packet).

Monday, April 21. Rajiv Gandhi. Reading: Wolpert, pp. 419-450.

Wednesday, April 23. Hindu Nationalism. Reading: Stuligross, "India's Vision--and the BJP's," CH, December 1999, pp. 422-427; "Where Now for the BJP?" Economist

Friday, April 25. Discussion: Indian economic reform. Reading: Economist surveys of May 4, 1991, January 21, 1995, and March 5, 2005 (in packet).

Monday, April 28. Pakistan since Indepedence, pt. I. THIRD PAPER DUE TODAY, Monday, 28 April, on the film Gandhi.

Wednesday, April 30. Pakistan since Independence, pt. II.

Friday, May 1. Discussion: The Nuclear Problem. Reading: Mehta, "India: The Nuclear Politics of Self-Esteem," Current History, December 1998, pp. 403-406; Ahmed, "The (Nuclear) Testing of Pakistan," CH, December 1998, pp. 407-411; Evans, "India, Pakistan, and the Prospect of War," CH, April 2002, pp. 160-165; Wolfsthal, "Asia's Nuclear Dominos?" CH, April 2003, pp. 170-175.

Monday, May 5. South Asia since 9/11

Wednesday, May 7. Film: In the Name of God

Friday, May 9. Film: In the Name of God, cont'd.

FINAL EXAM. Tuesday, May 13, 11:50 (http://courses.k-state.edu/spring2008/information/xam.htm)

POLICIES

INCOMPLETES. The KSU policy on incompletes states (http://courses.ksu.edu/catalog/undergraduate/grades/):

"The grade of Incomplete (I) is given in regular courses . . . upon request of the student for personal emergencies that are verifiable. The faculty member has the responsibility to provide written notification to the student of work required to remove the incomplete. The student has the responsibility to take the initiative in completing the work, and is expected to make up the incomplete during the first semester (enrolled) at the university after receiving the grade of I. If the student does not make up the incomplete during the first semester in residence at the university after receiving it, a grade may be given by the faculty member without further consultation with the student."

Please note that an incomplete is NOT awarded simply for failure to complete the coursework, but for verifiable personal emergencies.

ACADEMIC HONESTY, CHEATING, AND PLAGIARISM

I expect students to work honestly, and the vast majority of students do. Every semester, however, I catch one or two students cheating, and my policy on cheating is to assign a grade of F for the course and turn in the student involved to the Honor System.

From the Honor System website (http://www.ksu.edu/honor):

"Kansas State University has an Undergraduate Honor System based on personal integrity which is presumed to be sufficient assurance in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Undergraduate Honor System. The policies and procedures of the Undergraduate Honor System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A component vital to the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by undergraduate students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: 'On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.' A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. An XF would be failure of the course with the X on the transcript indicating failure as a result of a breach of academic honesty."

There are two main types of academic dishonesty that concern me in this course. The first is cheating on quizzes and exams. While this happens relatively rarely given the type of exams I give, any cheating of this sort (crib sheets, copying from a neighbor) is grounds for failing the course and a referral to the Honor System.

The more common type of academic dishonesty, in my experience, is plagiarism on papers.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work as your own. This can involve turning in a paper written by someone else, taking a paper from the internet, or not properly giving credit to sources. For another definition, see the Honor System's discussion at http://www.ksu.edu/honor/examples.htm

WHY IS PLAGIARISM WRONG?

Plagiarism combines lying and stealing. Plagiarizing is lying, because it falsely claims credit for work actually done by someone else. It is stealing, because it takes the product of someone else's labor. Plagiarism also makes the exchange of ideas impossible. How can you trust what someone tells you if you can't check it yourself? You need to be able to examine evidence for yourself to be sure that an argument makes sense, but you can't do that if the sources aren't available.

HOW DO I AVOID PLAGIARISM?

Avoiding plagiarism is simple. You need to do two things. First, if you take an idea, concept, or fact from someone else, you must give credit to your source. That's usually done through a footnote, endnote, or parenthetical reference. HOW exactly you give credit isn't so important; what's important is actually doing it. Second, if you use someone else's exact words, you have to indicate that. Otherwise, you're taking credit for the hard work someone else put in to writing well. You should indicate your use of someone else's words by quotation marks (or a blocked quote for longer quotations) around the passages you've taken, and some sort of reference to the source.

Plagiarism is disregarding either one of these rules: taking information without giving credit, or taking someone else's language without showing that and giving credit.

WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET?

Information on the internet is no different than information in books and other printed sources. If you take ideas or exact words from the internet without giving credit, you have lied about your own work, stolen someone else's work, and committed plagiarism.

Identifying your sources is even more important with internet sources. While getting a book published involves getting an editor and a publisher to agree that your work is worthwhile, any idiot can put absolutely anything on the net. Wouldn't you like to know if your information about Hitler, for example, comes from the American Nazi Party?